National atlas of Cuba

This review examines the National Atlas of Cuba, published in 1970 through cooperation between the geographical institutes of the Cuban and Soviet academies of sciences and contributions from forty Cuban institutions. Designed to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, the atlas comprises six sections covering administrative organization, natural conditions, agriculture and industry, population, sociocultural development, and history. Its maps are supplemented by diagrams, graphs, statistical tables, and explanatory texts, making the information both measurable and accessible. The reviewer particularly values its thematic breadth, appropriate range of scales, detailed documentation, and treatment of post-revolutionary achievements in education, health care, infrastructure, and economic development. Limitations include the wide chronological range of economic data and inconsistent administrative divisions across socioeconomic maps. Overall, the atlas represents a major achievement in Cuban geographical scholarship and demonstrates the country’s expanding scientific capacity and international cooperation after the revolution.